The final touches on US President Barack Obama's push to revive Israel-Palestinian negotiations are being put in place by his Middle East advisers David Hale and Dennis Ross and the legal adviser to the National Security Council Jonathan Schwartz who arrived in Israel Tuesday, June 14. After tying up arrangements in Jerusalem, the group is to meet Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas Thursday.
debkafile reports the Israeli and Palestinian leaders have dropped pre-conditions and agreed to sit down and talk.

Direct Israeli-Palestinian talks, interrupted in September after less than a week, will resume in January, 2011 following a quiet deal between the US, Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, debkafile's sources disclose. Obama administration officials are upbeat after four new developments unsnarled the gridlock. Most significantly, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu agreed to a second, partial settlement building freeze and Mahmoud Abbas to drop a bid for UN recognition of unilateral statehood.

US and Israel skirted around admitting that direct Israel-Palestinian dialogue had foundered after 26 days Sunday, Sept. 26, as Israel's settlement construction freeze expired. American spokesmen commented that with the resumption of building, a one-year clock was ticking for a peace accord. The talks have resulted for now in Hamas preparing to go to the next, expanded phase of its terror campaign, Egypt and Syria patching up their quarrel and the two terrorist organizations, Hamas and Hizballah, crowing.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman was accused of breaking ranks with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's drive for a peace accord after he remarked Sunday, Sept. 5, that an Israeli-Palestinian peace would not come this year or even in the next generation. debkafile's sources disclose that Lieberman's words were adjusted to his discovery that Barack Obama expected no more of direct talks than an interim, long-term framework with vague, non-binding references to the core issues.